By Danny Wright

24th Oct, 2017 | 6:00pm

'It's very painful' - Manager confirms 27-year-old injury blow ahead of Tottenham v West Ham

By Danny Wright

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has confirmed that Michail Antonio will miss his side’s clash against Tottenham at Wembley in the League Cup on Wednesday night.

Antonio, 27, has been ever-present for the Hammers this season, but is now facing a spell on the sidelines with a rib injury blow that he suffered in the first-half of the 3-0 loss to Brighton last Friday.

The ex-Sheffield Wednesday winger is widely regarded as one of the more influential players in the Hammers squad and will no doubt be a major miss for the under-pressure Bilic against Spurs, especially as the Croat is widely reported to have just two games left to save his job.

On a positive note though, the West Ham manager has revealed that striker Andy Carroll is back in the frame to start against Spurs in what is bound to be a brilliant London derby.

“We have Andy Carroll back in the squad. Michail Antonio will definitely be out tomorrow because he had a knock on his ribs in the first half against Brighton, but managed to play. It’s very painful, so he’ll be out,” said Bilic, as quoted on the West Ham official website on Tuesday afternoon.

Antonio has made nine appearances across all competitions after returning from a long spell on the sidelines which began last season.

He has scored one goal for the Irons this term, which came in the 1-1 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor earlier this month.

West Ham have beaten Cheltenham and Bolton to make this stage of the League Cup but will have a mountainous task of getting to the quarter finals against an in-form Tottenham side, fresh off the back of results against Real Madrid and Liverpool.

In other West Ham news, this attacker has also been ruled out of Wednesday’s League Cup game.

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